Ames Today

There were 11,120 students enrolled in Story County schools in the 2023-24 school year, 0.1% less than the previous year, according to the Iowa Department of Education.

Of all the students welcomed at the time, 52% identified as male, 47.8% as female, and 0.3% identified themselves as non-binary or did not specify their gender.

Data also showed that white students made up 78.2% of the student body, the largest percentage in Story County schools, followed by Hispanic students with 8.4%, 4.8% Black, 4.7% multiracial, 3.7% Asian and 0.1% Native American.

Ames High School had the highest enrollment among Story County’s 25 schools in the 2023-24 school year, welcoming 1,427 students.

Public school enrollment in Iowa remained relatively stable in the 2024-25 school year, with 480,665 students, a slight decrease of 0.63% compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, enrollment in accredited nonpublic schools grew by nearly 10%, reaching 39,356 students, up from 36,195. This increase was partially driven by the Students First Education Savings (ESA) program, with 27,866 students utilizing ESAs at nonpublic schools.

Rank	School name	School district	Total enrollment in 2022-23	Total enrollment in 2023-24	% change
1	Ames High School	Ames Comm	1,403	1,427	1.7%
2	Ames Middle School	Ames Comm	1,002	1,032	3%
3	Ballard High School	Ballard Comm	545	553	1.5%
4	Central Elementary School	Nevada Comm	529	547	3.4%
5	Gilbert High School	Gilbert Comm	537	528	-1.7%
6	Fellows Elementary School	Ames Comm	528	518	-1.9%
7	Nevada High School	Nevada Comm	491	503	2.4%
8	Edwards Elementary School	Ames Comm	450	439	-2.4%
9	Ballard East Elementary School	Ballard Comm	422	431	2.1%
10	Nevada Middle School	Nevada Comm	443	421	-5%
11	Ballard West Elementary School	Ballard Comm	424	412	-2.8%
12	Ballard Middle School	Ballard Comm	432	409	-5.3%
13	Gilbert Middle School	Gilbert Comm	409	404	-1.2%
14	Roland-Story Elementary School	Roland-Story Comm	407	397	-2.5%
15	Sawyer Elementary School	Ames Comm	367	375	2.2%
16	Meeker Elementary School	Ames Comm	351	365	4%
17	Gilbert Intermediate School	Gilbert Comm	341	358	5%
18	Roland-Story High School	Roland-Story Comm	345	344	-0.3%
18	Gilbert Elementary School	Gilbert Comm	328	344	4.9%
20	Roland-Story Middle School	Roland-Story Comm	317	300	-5.4%
21	Mitchell Elementary School	Ames Comm	290	296	2.1%
22	Colo-NESCO Middle/High School	Colo-NESCO Comm	232	219	-5.6%
23	Collins-Maxwell Middle/High School	Collins-Maxwell Comm	208	208	0%
24	Collins-Maxwell Elementary School	Collins-Maxwell Comm	186	164	-11.8%
25	Colo-Nesco Elementary School	Colo-NESCO Comm	117	126	7.7%